"People like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli will play a massive role in the coming World Cup" - Gautam Gambhir
Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir believes that unlike T20I cricket, India's ODI team needs a mixture of fearless players as well as those like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who can anchor the innings.
Gambhir played the role of an anchor in India's 2011 World Cup-winning team that had such a mixture of players. The former cricketer feels it is important to understand what role suits each player, instead of forcing them to commit to a particular brand of cricket.
Speaking to Star Sports on the show, 'Road to World Cup Glory', here's what Gautam Gambhir had to say about India's squad composition for the 2023 World Cup:
“First, you need to identify the players who got that fearless approach and probably in a format like 50 overs you need to have a mixture of every kind of player. I always feel that when we talk about this new approach, you've got to identify players who can adapt those roles or that template very easily.
"I feel people like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and all those guys who can anchor their innings, who probably can play spin really well, will play a massive role the coming World Cup.”
- Virat Kohli reaching 50 ODI centuries.
- Rohit Sharma reaching 10,000 ODI runs.
- Comeback of Rishabh Pant.
- Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja in full flow.
- WTC Final.
- The World Cup trophy.
- Lots of hope from 2023!
Gautam Gambhir on the change in rules in ODI cricket
India's 2011 World Cup team had an incredible balance because of players like Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, and Yusuf Pathan, who could also roll their arms over when needed. This helped the-then skipper MS Dhoni to play with just four specialist bowlers.
However, Gautam Gambhir feels that with two new balls at each end in ODIs and reverse-swing almost non-existent, it has become necessary for each team to play with five specialist bowlers.
On this, he stated:
"During that time we had only one new ball, now we've got two new balls with five fielders inside. So, the role of a part-timer has gone out of the window. The reverse swings, you don't see enough of reverse swings anymore, you don't see enough of purchase for the finger spinners as well."
Will India end their 10-year wait for an ICC Trophy by winning the World Cup this year? Let us know in the comments.